WIBU? - Child waking the street

[Iltavilli]

We live on a cul de sac with a ginnel (alley for non-northerners) at the bottom, so it is often used as a cut through for people walking children to the local schools about half a mile away. Leaving the house this morning around 8am (huge lie in as I normally leave at 6am), a girl of around 7 or 8 was being walked to school by her mum.

The girl was banging what looked like two plastic sticks together, quite loudly, and was shouting “get up, get up, it’s time for school and work” all the way along the street. She was about 100 metres ahead of her mum, but mum was laughing along and not trying to stop her. I said to the girl that some people, like nurses, work at night and need to sleep in the morning so they can take care of people the next night. The girl burst into tears, and as mum got to where we were (outside my house) shouted at me for making her daughter cry.

Given the weather is so warm, and people have windows open to sleep, was I wrong to ask the girl to stop - but also to explain why she should stop?

Another precious parent complaining because their precious child has ended up crying precious tears due to their inability to parent them!

YANBU. And thank you 🙏🏼

So what did you do to make a little girl cry OP? Not roll over in your bed and go back to sleep like most people - clearly.

I think you feel a little bit guilty about what you did and have only posted to try and assuage your guilt. We aren't all perfect after all and we can all be "cranky". Still YW and ABU.

@Hateisnotgood - could I ask why you’re posting on a thread on which you clearly have either not bothered to read, or not to comprehend, the post?

However please do feel free to create your own imaginary narrative of what happened.

I doubt she was maliciously thinking "ha, I'll wake up all the people who might be asleep".

Whilst shouting “get up, get up, it’s time for school and work” and banging sticks together....

We live in a tiny road but it's on the main walking route between a big clubbing area and a big area of bedsits, shared houses etc.
We've had people with what I can only think is a boom box stopping to sing and shout. Popular place to vomit too.
It's really just part of urban life I think. It's not targeted and anyone who was woken could have their own word.

Um ok - young child banging sticks together in street, shouting wake up everybody for work and school at 8am.

You, state to child that some people need to sleep at 8am because they are nurses/shift workers - child cries - parent shouts at you. You accuse parent in some terms that question her ability to parent.

And you live in a toddler-free street, which as yet isn't a Rightmove filter, but maybe should be.

Some people actually complain about birds singing too. Maybe you should go catch up on some sleep and it might help your humour/nice person levels; although I do understand that is hard when you work shifts - that I do, clearly, understand.

I imagine the child could have been copying her mother when she gets them up in the morning. I don’t see why you need to speak to the child you could have just said something to the mother directly. She was walking along its not like she was just standing outside one house. I bet you wake some people up in the morning when you leave so early I k know my neighbour wakes me up. But I just roll back over .

@HateIsNotGood

Seriously, read what I put. I didn’t accuse the parent of anything. Are words and sentences difficult for you?

Well you did target the girl as you didn’t speak to the mother first

Why am I being inflammatory? Why has that made you annoyed?

Maybe you just annoyed really quickly as you certainly don’t like other people having different views than you. This isn’t an echo chamber, there will lots of different views especially on this board.

I didn’t mean to cause offence I would have just handled it differently.

So, there isn't a problem then. That's good. No negligent parenting. No one saying anything to a child. No "waking the street" at 8am. Just all children walking meekly and silently to school. As all nurses who might also work shifts say nothing as they carry on with their lives. As all shift workers everywhere also do.

So all is fine and nothing happened and there is nothing for you to post about at all.

Night, night.

@femalebornandbreed - because, that’s not what the word targeting means.

If I was her mum I’d have to you to fuck off.

Then I’d make a point in doing it every day outside you house. Only I’d bring a tambourine, moracas and dds flute.

Sighs...

I think you get wound up really easily OP

Good night

Thanks @femalebornandbreed - your opinion duly noted. I’ll avoid targeting you speaking to you calmly and rationally in future.

Well what if i want to mow the lawn and there is shift workers in my road?
Our neighbours are luckily really considerate of dh and his shifts. If his car is there, they wait until the afternoon to cut their grass. They are respectful to him, so I make sure the children are respectful to them and don’t let them kick footballs against their wall or play out in the garden at 7am on Sunday mornings. It works both ways and I would hate to think We as a family are causing an unnecessary nuisance to any of our neighbours (or anyone else for that matter).

If I was her mum I’d have to you to fuck off

And right there would be the reason the kid can think she can make a racket at that time of the morning.

Yanbu OP.

You expect a 7 year old child to have adult awareness. YABVVVU.

How awful of you to confront a child, an innocent child who was behaving as children do.

What so children can behave anyway they like and not be pulled up now? Banging and shouting at that time of the day isn’t on, nobody wants to listen to that. The OP was definitely right to speak to her, if the child’s mother had her wits about her she would have told her to be quiet instead of laughing and leaving it to other people to do.

it wasn’t a non-event purely because the mother chose to shout at me

The bottom line is by telling a kid off when their parent is close enough to speak to instead, you risk angering the parent. Whether that's right or wrong, it's a risk. As you found out today. Maybe next time talk to the parent instead. Chances are the result will be better, which is what's important, isn't it?

To be honest, I don't personally think that banging sticks are that loud and, as a PP said, they weren't stationed outside a particular house but were walking along the street.

I also agree they were probably copying their parent's behaviour and as it was 8AM, I think it definitely falls under the realm of an acceptable time to expect a bit of noise, much like you'd expect people laughing, talking a bit too loudly when meeting friends/talking on the phone, singing extra loudly, cars or motorbikes revving noisily, etc.

If you really felt the urge to say something, I probably would've directed it at the mum as the girl is still relatively young and having strangers talk to you, especially when they're politely reprimanding you, can be quite daunting.